Word.ws English Dictionary

letters of marque

letters of marque is the plural of letter of marque.

Meaning of letter of marque

Noun

letter of marque (plural letters of marque)

  1. (historical) An official commission from a government authorizing someone to seize the property or people of another nation; especially to attack merchant shipping of another nation.
    • A letter of marque came from the King / to the scummiest vessel I'd ever seen / God damn them all! I was told / We'd cruise the seas for American gold / We'd fire no guns, shed no tears.1976, Stan Rogers, “Barrett's Privateers”, in Fogarty's Cove
  2. (historical) A ship that has been armed for such a task.

Questions about letters of marque

What is letters of marque the plural of?
Letters of marque is the plural of letter of marque.

Words near letters of marque in the dictionary

  1. letters of horning
  2. letters of indemnity
  3. letters of intent
  4. letters of introduction
  5. letters of last resort
  6. letters of marque
  7. letters of marque and reprisal
  8. letters of mart
  9. letters of motivation
  10. letters of peace
  11. letters of recommendation

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: letters of marque (page history and authors); letter of marque (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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